USC School of Education turns 100

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KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez reports on the centennial of USC's school of education.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: A century ago, the University of Southern California graduated most of the state’s new teachers. Back then, the norm was that they should lecture and students should listen. Now, says USC School of Education Dean Karen Gallagher, the university instructs new teachers how to engage students based on their life experiences.

Karen Gallagher: We’ve been successful for the last hundred years because we think we’ve been innovative in educating people and we’ve trying to make a difference in schools.

Guzman-Lopez: The school graduates about a hundred new teachers each year. Gallagher says the $40,000 yearly tuition for a teaching degree still keeps many prospects away. USC’s trying to sweeten the deal by refunding tuition for graduates who commit to teaching in impoverished neighborhoods.